Burning Embers
by Hattie1997
Summary: Sequel to Casting Shadows. With Ron dead, Thalia, as well as Harry and Hermione, feel lost. So when a plan that could possibly bring the Weasley back comes into light, what will they do? And what is the price for bringing the dead back? Maybe another life must be sacrificed...but who? And will they go willingly?


**GAL39 – I'm sorry that you thought that the last chapter was a bit rushed; I hope you like this chapter better. I'm actually thinking of starting a Percy W x Annabeth story (maybe just keeping it as a one-shot because I love Hermione too much – not that that makes much sense). I'm glad you think that Hermione was revived in a way that makes sense because I didn't think that. I was just in a weird mood when I started to read it, and class (that's where I wrote that chapter) was really boring. Just a question: Do you think Audrey is the best wife for Percy, because I quite like Penelope Clearwater (his girlfriend in the fifth year)? I thought they made a really cute couple. Anyway, thanks for the review. Hope you like this chapter.**

**The Start of the Search**

Thalia:

Thalia opened her eyes softly, blinking away more tears that came to her eyes. Resolutely she stood, wiping her eyes roughly. This was no time to be crying pointlessly; if there was a way to save Ron, she would try it. There must be a sort of veil or something between this world and the next, some way to bring back people who had passed over. She gazed out over the world below: from the sun glistening over the Black Lake as it rose in the early morning light, to the first beginners who were moving outside to get a taste of the sun before lessons began. Finally, she turned on her heel and strode off the roof. Her destination? The Library.

She passed no one on her way, they may have thought her crazy if they had as she was racing along the corridor like a hoard of banshees were chasing her. Finally she came upon her destination and, gasping piteously, she made her slightly (but only just) calmer way inside. She had to unlock the door as it was before hours so the Library was technically supposed to be closed.

Upon entering she found that she had a problem. Okay, so she knew she was looking for information on some sort of life-after-death veil or something, but she very much doubted that there would be any specific book on that. There may be Ancient Runes or something on the key (if that was even what it was), so maybe that section would be the best place to start.

However, she doubted very much that it was just lying around, so the Restricted Section was probably a good idea. Glancing around nervously, she pulled out her wand and waved it as she had seen Hermione do so many times.

"Alohamora."

With a satisfying _click_ the door opened and she gently crept inside.

As it so happened, there were hundreds of books in the Ancient Runes section – books that would have made Hermione proud (and spend hours in just that section, but that was beside the point).

"Okay," she murmured in such a way that made her sound like Luna Lovegood. She giggled a little at that thoughts – her first laugh since Ron's death – and shook her head, still grinning. "Where to start…" She perused the aisles for a few moments, reading the titles and the authors, none catching her attention.

Suddenly she stopped and pulled back slightly, reading the title of the book she had just passed. _A Study in the Unnatural and Believed Impossible_ looked back up at her. It was a good place as any to start, she supposed.

Opening it at the contents page she read, her eyes gliding over the page with practiced ease. Then a beautiful smile curled the corners of her mouth. There it was: _Chapter 13: The Veil. _It didn't specifically say it was about the land between life and death, but it was a good enough place to start.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to page 394, expecting lots of writing. However, she was extremely disappointed when no more than five sentences appeared before he eyes, neither of them telling her anything about the Key to the Veil, or even where it was.

_The Veil is not mentioned in many books and those in which it is mentioned are highly classified and not usually found in the normal Library. As it so happens only five books had been written detailing to an extent the Veil before it was deemed illegal due to the amount of people who have tried to bring loved ones back._

Books to cross-reference to:

_The Dark (Or Not So Dark) Arts Revealed: by Viktor Hugo._

_Ancient Runes and Their Meanings: by Kennie Loundron._

_The Differences Between Ancient Runes and Arithmancy: by Kennie Loundron._

_Nicholas Flamel: The Man Behind the Stone: by Ashley Bougred._

Running her hand lightly along the covers of the book in her hand, Thalia tried to decide which book to look for first. Finally deciding to take all of them out and then see which held the most information, she began her search.

An hour later, just as she was finishing looking and had all the books (bar the one written by Viktor Hugo) in her bag, the Library was taken over by over-eager seventh years trying to cram in some extra studying before the exams in two months times. With a jolt, Thalia realised that she should probably be getting some studying in as well, but she could actually bring herself to care at the moment. She was just glad that she wouldn't have been missed before she had a free first and second period. That meant that she had about another hour before break, after which she had lessons all day.

She crept almost-silently out of the Restricted Section, glad that no one had seen her because everyone was too busy with their own studying and Madam Pince was nowhere to be seen, and flopped down unceremoniously on a table out of the way of the main Library so that she could 'study' in peace.

A small grin curved the corners of her lips as she glanced at the three books in front of her. She had copied the information in _A Study in the Unnatural and Believed Impossible _out before placing the book back so she only had three books to look into.

She opened _Ancient Runes and Their Meanings _but it didn't have anything specific about the Veil, and the only things it said about the Key was that it had Runes inscribed on the edge of it but no one knew what the Runes spelled out.

_The Differences Between Ancient Runes and Arithmancy _was equally as pointless and so it was with a heavy heart that she turned to the final book, holding her breath in the hope that it would have what she needed. She was not disappointed.

She opened _Nicholas Flamel: The Man Behind the Stone _and gently pushed her finger down the page, reading each title before shaking her head and moving on.

_Chapter 10: Discoveries of the sixteenth century._

Thalia paused, eyes wide, before flipping to the required page and beginning to read. It had a lot about the Philosophers Stone (_that would have been useful for Harry, Ron and Hermione in their first year_ she thought) but also a bit about the Veil and the Key to it.

_The Veil (also known as the Land Between Life and Death) is nothing more than a frozen waterfall in the Southern Arctic Lands near Australia. Due to the abysmal heat of the Australian atmosphere, the Veil can be seen from miles away. It is believed by the Muggles to be the center of the fiery pit leading down into the Underworld, but it has no been proven._

_The only way to open the Veil is with the Key, which was hidden centuries ago by the illustrious Nicholas Flamel. He wrote a map detailing the way to the Key and it is believed to have been given to his good friend Albus Dumbledore. However this has yet to be proven as Dumbledore has not been very forthcoming with information._

Copying this information down with a satisfied grin, Thalia finally checked her watch, and gasped in horror. It read 3:50. Classes would have been finished for the day, but she didn't think anyone would have thought her continued absence was odd seeing as she was still mourning Ron's death.

With that thought in mind she headed off to the Heads Dormitories, knowing that would be where she would find most of her year. They had unofficially decided to meet there every day after school and just chat about what had happened. It kept them all close and made sure that nothing like Voldemort ever happened again.

"Mischief Managed."

The portrait swung opened and she made her entrance known by stumbling over the small step leading into the room. Straightening up, she noticed that everyone was staring at her and, after sitting down and accepting a mug of hot chocolate from Hermione, she began her tale.

**XxX**

Hermione:

I was sitting next to Draco and Luke had his arm thrown protectively around my waist as I chatted softly with Harry about anything and everything except the thing we most needed to talk about…Ron.

Thalia's loud and ungraceful entrance got all of our attention and, turning towards her, I expected to be greeted by red cheeks and hollow eyes. Instead, she looked almost new. Her skin had a healthy glow to it and her eyes sparkled with excitement. I wouldn't begrudge her the chance to get over Ron, but she didn't have to do it so quickly.

When she started her tale of discovery, however, those thoughts flew from my mind. She was trying to bring Ron back.

"I am going to go to this place," Thalia murmured, "But I don't want to do it alone."

She sounded vulnerable and weak, as though she expected us to refuse to help her. Instead, I nodded my head sharply, "I'll come with you."

"So will I," Luke, Harry and Draco said at the same time and I didn't even bother to hide the full-blown smile that was creeping its way across my face. Ron may be gone (and even though we would try to bring him back I wasn't so sure of our success) but I still had friends who would stick by me not matter what. They made Ron's…passing…seem less painful, and although I would still have a Ron-shaped hole in my heart until I, too, passed into the void, it made, I would eventually move on.

I closed my eyes, blinking back tears, as Neville, Luna, Percy Jackson (I may just start calling him PJ to save the confusion between him and Percy Weasley), Annabeth, Blaise and Ginny joined me, Harry, Draco, Luke and Thalia in our plan. I knew Jase would probably want to join in too but, fortunately, he wasn't there due to the fact that he had graduated so he wouldn't be going. I didn't plan on telling him, as he would refuse to let me go.

Everyone who wasn't going left the room in twos and threes, leaving the eleven of us to talk about our plan.

"So do you actually know where the Veil is?" I asked into the sudden silence, "Or the Key for that matter?"

"Uh...no…and no," was my only reply as Thalia checked over her notes once more. "It only says that the Veil is in the Southern Arctic Lands, near Australia."

"Well, do you know who wrote the book in which it was printed?" Draco asked the question I had been about to and Thalia coloured slightly before nodding her head slightly and muttering, "The book is called Nicolas Flamel: The Man Behind The Stone and it was written by Ashley Bougred."

"Seriously? That would have been so helpful in first year," Harry moaned and I had to agree.

I glanced fully at Harry, smiling at the bright look in his eyes. Since Ron's death he had seemed haunted, but now he seemed to have some hope. Hope that after all of this was done, Ron would be back where he belonged.

"So we should go and talk to her," I murmured before holding my hand out for the notes. For a moment I was just stared at like I was crazy but then, with a small gasp of understanding, they were passed over to me and I began to read.

"We should also talk to Dumbledore," I murmured before reading aloud what had been written,

"_The only way to open the Veil is with the Key, which was hidden centuries ago by the illustrious Nicholas Flamel. He wrote a map detailing the way to the Key and it is believed to have been given to his good friend Albus Dumbledore. However this has yet to be proven as Dumbledore has not been very forthcoming with information."_

"Let's go then," Neville said, speaking up for the first time, but I pulled them back.

"We shouldn't all go in," I whispered, always the voice of reason, and the others nodded their assent, raising their eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes at their unspoken question. "Fine, I'll go."

I left them in my common room and made my solitary way to Dumbledore's office, pausing outside the gargoyle that protected his stairs.

"Go on up," the gargoyle said, surprising me greatly, "He is expecting you."

I nodded and jumped onto the winding staircase, allowing it to take me up to the office. Once there I knocked loudly and a moment later was admitted. I stroked Fawkes lightly on the head as Dumbledore appeared in front of me. He sat down behind his desk and regarded me solemnly through his half-moon spectacles.

"I believe you have a question."

"Yes…it's for an extra-credit assignment," I said quickly, lying through my teeth.

All I got in reply was a knowing glance. It seemed like he knew what we were planning, but he said nothing on the matter and I hurried on.

"Well, I believe you were great friends with Nicholas Flamel?" All I got in response was a sharp nod so I continued, "Well, I believe he hid the Key to the Land Between Life and Death and wrote a map detailing where to find it."

"That he did," the elderly Headmaster replied, "Now, what is it you really want to ask me?"

"Where is the map?"

"I believe it is with your Father and his brothers," he replied easily and I stood, startled, for a moment before I nodded, grinning like a fool. I hadn't thought it would be so easy.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Anytime, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said as I began to leave. He called me back before I could, however.

"And remember, Miss Granger, everything has a price."

"Thank you. Professor," I repeated once more, thoroughly confused. That was not a feeling I, Hermione Granger, know-it-all bookworm, liked.

"Well, who has the map?" Draco asked as soon as I entered, dragging me to sit down on the sofa. "Well?"

"Alright, calm down," I laughed, "Apparently my Father has it."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Harry asked, confused, "I mean, if Jupiter, Father and Pluto have it then they will give it to their offspring."

"That's not the way of the God's," I murmured, "They'll probably send us on a Quest to discover a Manticore or something equally as ridiculous."

"Then we should split up," Luke stated decisively, "Half of us will find Ashley Bougred while the others will go to Pompeii and get the map. Okay?"

Nodding, we split into two groups: me, Luke, Draco, Luna and Neville in one group and Ginny, Annabeth, Thalia, Harry, PJ and Blaise in the other.

"Let's go."

**By the way, for any who are interested, the Veil and the Key aren't something I thought up off the top of my head. Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape gave the map to the Key to Jupiter when they wanted to know who Jupiter's children at Hogwarts were. It is in Darkness Awaits. I think the chapter is called Pompeii.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and please review.**


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